Friday, November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving in Costa Rica

Many people have asked me how I spent my Thanksgiving in Costa Rica, so here it is. The Peace Corps was nice enough to ask the US Embassy if they had any families willing to host volunteers for the holiday. There were quite a few families willing to host and I was able to celebrate with my fellow volunteer and friend Becca and 3 families (2 from the Embassy). We stayed with an Embassy employee named Julie, her husband Mauricio and their 4 year old Claudia and 6 month old Lucia. Their home is beautiful and they made us feel right at home from the start. For the actual holiday another Embassy employee and his family came over for dinner along with another American family. The food was beyond good, we ate the traditional Thanksgiving dinner and everyone shared what they were thankful for that year. It was a really nice time. One of the things I'm thankful for this year (among many) is the generosity I've encountered since I've arrived in Costa Rica. I have never had more people offer their homes, food, exercise equipment, rides, etc. to me in all of my life. There is such an attitude of look, I have this, you can have some too (or more often than not, I really want to share this with you, please let me). It's been a really important lesson for me. I hope that is something I will take away with me when I go. I hope to write further on the subject as it is so important to me. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Here is a list of what I'm thankful for:

Generosity, so many people have given me so much in this past year.
Shingles, I know that sounds weird, but I am thankful for it. God has taught me so much about him, about me, about life through shingles so I wouldn't change that.
God, for not allowing me to go blind.
Clinica Biblica, for helping me when I needed it most.
My family, for keeping me sane when I was losing it and for being my greatest support.
My friends, for getting me through.
Jesus, for making the ultimate sacrifice for me.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A Cause for some Laughter

Before I begin my funny story I need to breakdown my current funny/laughter situation and my past funny/laughter situation. In the past (pre-Peace Corps) I laughed all the time, I mean all of the time. Especially when I'm with Mandy, Jess and my Montana crew. It was probably really annoying, when Mandy and I are together we can seriously laugh all day, there are a minimum of 3 laughing attacks per day. It was a lot of fun. Also, in Avon, my friends and I laughed all the time. We joked around and we did funny things. It was a lot of fun. Okay, so that was my past funny/laughter situation. Currently, I maybe laugh once a day. Jokes are so culturally based and based of on history and a million things, so I don't get the Tico humor. I try, and sometimes I can pick up on most of it, but usually since it's Spanish I'm still super literal. I'll ask what they meant and that just makes them laugh harder, and then they explain it to me and I usually say “oh”. Trust me, it just doesn't work. To remedy the situation I have 3 seasons of Arrested Development a super funny series and I make sure to watch at least one show per night so I can laugh. Okay, so here's the funny...
Today I was looking at some magazines on a shelf in the corridor that leads to my room. The shelves are really high, and go probably 6 inches over my head. So, I'm sorting through old News Weeks and Cosmos from 2002-2004 and contemplating reading them when out of the corner of my eye I see something move on the self over my head. Just as this happens my friend Carla was walking past me in the hallway. The thing I saw move was a giant green iguana and it scared the crap out of me. I screamed, scaring the poor lizard and causing it to jump, consequently, Carla just happened to be right in the path of the lizard and it almost lands on her, causing her to scream. The iguana hits the ground and takes off at a sprint for the garden and Carla and I were left just cracking up. It was really fun. That's the hardest I've laughed in a really long time. While I'm such a fan of flying iguanas, I do love a good laugh.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Back in La Palma. Again.

I would like to be able to say that after my week in SJ/Acosta I was ready to get to back in the swing of things in La Palma. Well, I'm back, but for some reason it's always difficult to come back. I think I miss being around people and when I'm in La Palma for a long time I forget that I miss it, but when I leave and am surrounded by friends it makes the feeling of being alone all the stronger. Anyway, I'm working on it.
We had our first Guias y Scouts meeting last Thursday and things went great. Now we are forming la junta or the board of directors and then we will begin the process of training the adults. I'm trying to do a good job of making sure everyone knows that we are running a marathon, not a sprint, so the process needs to be slow and steady so we can build a strong foundation. I'm excited to see where this goes. This program has the potential to really benefit the community. Regarding other project ideas... Well, the computers are on hold at least until February. I'm waiting to see if the internet really does make it here in December like we have been told. If that's the case, I'd like to encourage an entrepreneur to open an internet cafe, it's really the most sustainable form. When a community hads donated computers they are hard to maintain because there is no way to charge for the use, therefore you cannot pay someone to be there and keep the center open. You can see the problem. English classes are still going, I'm going to continue on with just one in the coming year. I think it will be better to teach one class well, rather than two classes mas o menos (more or less). Asi es (that's how it is). I'm heading to San Jose on Wednesday (or Acosta more exactly) and then to Escazu, then San Jose for the weekend. I'm going to spend Thanksgiving with an embassy family and Becca my Peace Corps friend and then I'm going to hang out with Mellany a former roommate from my first season at Beaver Creek.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Back in Acosta for a couple of days

I'm back in Acosta for a couple of days and it feels so good. I missed my host family here so much. It's strange that I only lived with them for a month and a half and yet my bond with them is so strong. My host mom has saved me twice now. The first time she saved me was from a really bad living situation with another host family, things just didn't work out and I was soooo stressed out living with them. When I moved in with her it was like I could breathe for the first time since arriving in Costa Rica. The second time was after my little shingles out break and my time in the hospital. I was so weak after 6 days of IV antibiotics and antivirals. The treatment killed the staph infection and prevented the virus from making me blind, but it also seriously damaged the rest of my body. I was so weak and tired and sick and my host mom took care of me for a week or so until I felt strong enough to go back to La Palma. So, needless to say, I really love my host mom and family in Acosta. I have missed the mountains and the cooler weather, it's so nice to be back.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

VAC Meeting 2009

These past few days I had the pleasure of attending my very first all volunteer conference. This is a time when all of the volunteers from Tico 18 and Tico 19 (my group) get to hang out, get to know each other, share ideas and struggles and just have fun. I really need times like these to get out of La Palma and have friends to talk to. November is going to fly by. I'll be staying in SJ area for a few more days, I get back to La Palma and have my Guias y Scouts meeting right when I get back, then it's 2 weeks and then I head back to SJ for Thanksgiving. I can't believe how fast time is flying by!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

English Classes

Perhaps there was a time in my life when I entertained the idea of being a teacher. I thought it would be fun and maybe when one has the proper training, it is. However, I don't have the proper training and I think I just may be the worst English teacher ever. I have no idea what I'm doing. Imagine if someone gave you two training sessions to be an accountant and then told you to go and do it, probably you wouldn't be very good at it. People go to school to get a degree in accounting, go figure, people also go to school for 4 years to learn how to be a teacher. I'm a horrible teacher, I almost feel sorry for my students, at least it's free for them. Oh well, maybe by the time I leave I won't will have learned how to be only a sort of bad teacher, rather than a super bad one.
In other more cheery news, I'm looking forward to a Peace Corps get together when all of the volunteers in Costa Rica are going to go camping together and spend 4 days re-grouping. I'm pretty excited about it. After training I'm going to go to Acosta to visit my host family and the host families of my compaƱeros of Acosta. I really loved my host family and I think it will be a great time to reconnect with them and have a little break from La Palma.